This is less about the practicalities of "what currency are they charging me?", which is rarely if ever a legitimate concern of a customer. This relates more to the presentation of the menu itself, where excluding the dollar sign is something posh restaurants do, and many others imitate. As for why they do so, I don't know of a reason beyond the appeal of minimalism
Even when the currency sign is dropped, you would usually have a notation like 12.—, 12.--, or 12.00 (or with commas instead of periods as decimal separator depending on locale) to signify that it is a price and not just a random number. You could easily guess that from the context, but it is a deliberate circumvention of convention nonetheless. Using just '12' also signals that fractional units of that currency are not something that establishment deals with (which is fine for Japanese Yen or South Korean Won, but comes across as rude for Euro, and most Dollars and Pounds).
Re:Restaurant menu tricks (2020)
by strogonoff on Sunday May 09, 2021 @04:39AM
(#27094321)
> Using just '12' also signals that fractional units of that currency are not something that establishment deals with (which is fine for Japanese Yen or South Korean Won, but comes across as rude for Euro, and most Dollars and Pounds).
Pedantic note: you will routinely see prices specified as “12” on menus in coffeeshops and restaurants in Korea, and it would mean 12000 won.
I personally treat it as just one of the tactics a place employs to set expectations and attract/repel audience according to its preferred vibe.
Why? For me, I'd just assume what ever the local currency was is implied. Maybe that's just me being in the US, so there's only $. However, when I've been to other non-european countries, this was also a safe assumption. However, even in Europe, would it not be safe to assume euros, unless in the UK, then assume pounds? Am I just being too simple?